Anniversary
by AquaEclipse
Summary: The Nations remember how WW2 and its aftermath affected them and their loved ones. (Feels alert) Closely tied to DCAU.


**Anniversary**

 **A/N: The following makes use of a headcanon of mine – if a Personification's land is occupied by another Nation (non-native), which works in both the cases of War Occupation, satellite states and colonization, their 'guardian's symbol/seal is 'branded' on their non-dominant forearm, as an outline/tracing. It only applies if said Personification understands the concept of being ruled by another. If you still don't get it, read the dam fic.**

 **PS All relevant info is from books and textbooks.**

 **Warning: Possible dark themes and cursing.**

* * *

Another year has passed.

Once again, it is 2 September, the anniversary of the last World War's end. Yet that does not mean that the Nations have let go of their past.

Some look at the Nazi swastika outline wrapped in a circle on their arm, wondering how a Buddhist symbol of peace (or whatever) has been corrupted into an emblem of tyranny and oppression.

Others trace the lines which form a chrysanthemum, thinking how a flower of nobility and high morality has been twisted into a blossom of betrayal and thirst for power. **(1)**

A handful see the Soviet hammer and sickle, the Union Jack, the Stars-and-Stripes and/or the symbols of other Allied Nations, remembering the changes and the pain from the Iron Curtain, of the aftermath of the War.

Some others do not carry the Occupation marks, but their hearts return to the days of agony, of vicious attacks, of treachery, in the form of scars: burns, cuts, the like.

The few uninvolved simply sigh and perhaps comfort their affected loved ones.

But in the end, no Nation escaped psychologically unharmed, as memories buried in the subconscious return to haunt their minds in vengeance.

* * *

The Nazis' symbol, so tainted, so…like, radiating an aura of darkness, even as just, like, a faded mark in a circle. Right next to the Soviet mark, because apparently, being a satellite state counts as, like Occupation and/or colonization, which is, like, less important of a matter.

The screams, the cries of fear and despair and Death's leering…he can still, like, hear it, despite it being like, years and years ago. The Camps, the hot spots of like, genocide and inhumanity…call it history, but the monuments still, like, carry the same grim atmosphere as, like, decades ago.

Plus the black numbers, clear to this day. 3875429. Auschwitz-Birkenau. The grand total of victims for one Camp alone. **(2)**

He has a question, still unanswered fully, and may never be: why?

* * *

Two 'marks'.

Usually zero to two or so is normal. And most of these originated from war. He is no different in this case.

He wears his first mark like a badge of honour. After all, the British Empire shaped him into who he is today. The other though…

Death. Deportation. Desperation.

Blood. Binds. Betrayal.

Rename. Remove. Restructure.

Trust. Emotion. Innocence. All washed away by pain of a fateful Christmas Day.

How ironic is it that a festival of joy to other Nations is a day of despair for him, a Region where cultures mix? **(3)**

* * *

Three in one. Three Nation symbols in one circle, all of them capitalist Allies.

Sometimes he passes by it (or rather, the remains of it). A blockade of at first barbed wire and so, then concrete and danger on the other side.

Perhaps the agony of the separation between blood brothers is simply an excuse for something along the lines of 'an eye for an eye'?

* * *

He is the one least affected in the family. The one SAR mostly uninvolved in the action, other than a few bombings from a certain 'world superpower'.

His siblings, either fighting or suffering. He watched from a distance, protected by his Guardian's neutrality. Sometimes, he feels a little guilty.

He has tried to comfort them. _Tried_ being the key word: everyone sticks to wallowing in their own misery, and the one time he tried to snap his (don't tell anyone) favourite brother out of an angsty funk, he was forced and locked out by a barrage of firecrackers, thrown items and insults in the six languages said brother could speak fluently **(4)**.

Exactly what does he feel? Regret? Bitterness? Numbness? Can he even help them at all?

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **(1) It's a direct reference to the ancient/imperial Chinese piece 愛蓮說, or _On the Love of Lotus_ (in rough translation). Go read it sometime.**

 **(2) The number isn't the real exact number. It's just a personal estimate. Don't take it seriously. I mean it.**

 **(3) See more in** _ **Narrative**_ **, also by me.**

 **(4) The Four Great Clans (the main residents in HK before major Ming-Qing development/colonization) are the Punti, the Hakka, the Hoklo (or Fuklo) and the Tanka. They respectively speak Cantonese, Hakka dialect, Fujianese, and Cantonese and Fujianese. Cantonese, English and Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) are our official languages. Japanese is a result of Japanese Occupation during WW2 (for more on that, read Wikipedia or** _ **Narrative**_ **).**

 **Well then. Here's a free sewing kit to mend your broken heart (if it is torn apart, of course). Please review. Flames will be used to bake cookies for you all. (::) (::) (::)…**

 ** _ **Edit: Go to my profile to vote for the Hetalia Hunger Games Simulation you want to be posted first!**_**


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